Interior of Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

Photograph of the interior of the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. The photograph depicts a series of double arches supported by decorative columns. Pools of light appear on the right of the arcading. The use of double arches permitted the use of higher ceilings within the cathedral and were supported on columns constructed from marble and granite.

Córdoba Cathedral was first built by the Visigoths as a Catholic church. During the 8th Century when Spain was conquested by Muslim forces, it was shared as a place of worship between Christian and Muslim worshippers. At the end of the 9th century, during the Reconquista in which Christian Iberian forces seized Muslim territories, the Cathedral was converted to a Christian church.